TITLE: The role of water temperature and laundry procedures in reducing house dust mite populations and allergen content of bedding.
AUTHORS: McDonald LG; Tovey E
AFFILIATION: Department of Medicine, University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
SOURCE: J Allergy Clin Immunol 1992 Oct;90(4 Pt 1):599-608
CITATION IDS: PMID: 1401643 UI: 93017539
ABSTRACT: The effects of various laundry procedures on house dust mites and their allergens have been established. All mites were killed by water temperatures 55 degrees C or greater. Killing at lower temperatures was not enhanced by any of the pure detergents or laundry products tested. A cold cycle of laundry washing with or without laundry powder did not remove most live mites from bedding; however, the allergen concentration (Der p I/gm fine dust) was reduced by more than 90%. Dry cleaning did not reduce the allergen concentration of the dust, although most, if not all, mites were killed.